Flowers. Richard Learoyd & Irving Penn. until 10 september 2022. Hamiltons Gallery, London – UK.
Hamiltons Gallery’s association with Irving Penn and later his Foundation spans three decades; and for the first time, the gallery unites the work of Penn who was one of the most renowned photographers of his time – alongside that of contemporary, British photographer Richard Learoyd. Together, their studies of flowers present us with an exceptional vision of forms, tones, and patterns, entwining the beauty of nature with their photographic genius.
Richard Learoyd – Flowers
Learoyd’s flower still lives seem to float on hazy backgrounds creating an immateriality and timelessness in the composition. Learoyd captures the peak of beauty before the inevitable decay sets in, giving the flowers an immortal character. This is not only a reference to the beauty of flora but also to its fragility, which can perhaps be applied to the finite nature of our world. Richard strips photography down to its essentials, following a historical photographic process invented centuries ago. His direct-positive colour prints are produced using a custom-built, in-studio camera obscura, composed of two dark chambers and a fixed lens which exposes light directly onto photo-sensitive Ilfochrome paper. Because the prints are not enlarged from negatives, the resulting images are grainless and exceptionally detailed.
Irving Penn – Flowers
Photographing each flower slightly differently and with meticulous attention to detail, each of Irving Penn’s flower portraits are captured in his signature minimal and elegant style, against a plain background. The Penn prints featured in this exhibition are mostly dye transfer, an exceptionally technical printing process that heightens these spectacular works. Irving Penn started to photograph flowers as a series in 1967 with a commission by American Vogue to illustrate their Christmas edition with photographs – almost portraits – of tulips. This became the first of seven issues of the fashion magazine he would illustrate with different genera of flowers. Penn later revisited the motif in the 1990s and early 2000s, using flowers as a metaphor for his older age and the beauty which can be found in the expiring bloom.
